Bridle.



PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906.

3. S. DEAN,

BRIDLE.

urmonmx 11.31) was 13. 1904.

Wrifnesaeax ,wI/zz'en07z' PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES S. DEAN, OF TOLEDO, IOWA.

BHIDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1906.

Application filed June 13, 1904. Serial No. 212.324.

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES S. DEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Tania and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Dctachcr and Brace for BridleBlinds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bridles where the stay joins the blind,- and the object of my improvement is to provide, first, a simple and eilicient means of detaching the stay from the blind automatically when accidentally caught on a nail or any obstruction, since it must detach imme diately or be broken by the frightened horse, (the device is reattached without loss or trouble;) second, to brace or stiffen the stay near its end, where it changes its thick round form for a thin flat one to enter the blind, where damaging hinge-joints are formed by use, said hinge-joints allowing the blind to flap frequently against the horses eye and often to assume a very unpresentable appear ance, one blind remaining for a time too close and the other too far away, until in time the working of the joint cracks the stay entirely in two, and, third, to be of easy application to bridlcs already in. use, as well as to those being made. I attain these objects by a device illustratcd in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a bridle, showing the device ap died and exposed more fully in one blind by removing a portion of its leather. Fig. 2 represents one of two like pieces, which, together with the ferrule, all represented by Fig. 4, are the parts of the device. Fig. 3 represents a sectional view of the blind and stay with the device applicd. Fig. 5 is a representation of the ferrule with another side toward us. Fig. 6 is a representation of the two like pieces, (one of which is shown in Fig. 2,)

inged on one side and buttoned on the other and closed, as around the stay. Fig. 7 is the same open. Fig. 8 is the same made of wire.

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The device is made of tempered metal or similar material.

Two pieces, like Fig. 2, semicylindrical in form in their upper part 9, are applied to the stay 10 at its lower end, where it unites with the blind 11. The two pieces are placed one on each side of the stay, so that the hollow cylinder or tube formed by them, 9 9, in-

closes the stay. A spur 12, pointing inl ward, pierces the stay, and a ferrule 5 incloses i the tube, securing the parts 9 9 to each other I and to the stay. The ferrule 5 is secured to the tube by a screwthread 13, alike in tube and ferrule and mutually adapted. If further si-urnrity is desired after it is adjusted, the ferrule may be indented by violence from without at a point (12 in Fig. 5) directly over the spur, (1.2 in Figs. 2, 3, or 4.) The device thus secured to the stay, each of the like pieces changes from a seinicylindrical to a flattened form 14, as it extends downward to enter the blind 11.

The blind is composed of two pieces of leather 17 17 with sheet-iron 15 between them. The device enters the blind between the two pieces of leather, but receives the sheeting 15 between the two parts 14 14 of the device up to the SllOLlltlBI 16, above which point the two like pieces of the device are in close contact. ll found necessary to keen the two like pieces in position relative to each other, two small ini'lcntations 18 18 will be made in the ilattcncd portion of the central part of each, where they are in close contact, the indentations in either piccc adapted to those in the other.

When the stay is caught on a nail or any obstruction, the device detaches and frees the horse without pulling the bridle off or breaking it. if the stay detaches too easily, indentation 1U 19 will be made in the lower part of the device 14 14 and in the sheeting of the blind to correspond, adapting each to the other, to strengthen the grip of the device upon the shceting of the blind. The inverted cone 2(), formed by the iner ing of the tubular form of the upper part wit 1 theflattoned lower part, strengthens the central art. Fig. 8 represents the same form and 'unetion and is made of two like ieces of wire, each of which is laid across 1; e upper ed e of the sheeting of the blind and the width of the device apart. Each end of each piece is bent downward, one on either side of the shooting, to the lower end of the device. The two ends on. either side turn toward each other and again ascend to the upper edge of the shooting, where the lour ends join at the shoulder 16 16, ascondin in one twist, gradually spreading to form t io inverted cone 20, and continue spirally upward, forming the tube 9 5). When the furrulc is adjusted. its

spiral threads are adapted to the wires forming the tube, which they cover.

I elaiin 1. A detaehal'Jle blind-stay eonnectm' consisting ol an upper tubular portion, spurs projecting inwardly therefrom, parallel spring members rn'ojecting' from said tubular portion and integral therewith, adapted to clasp the blind or portion. thereof and hold the same by their spring-tension.

l. A detachable blind-stay connector consi sting of an upper tubular portion, parallel spring members projecting from said tubular portion and integral therewith, indentations on said parallel members, and a projection. on a blind engaging with either of said indentations to hold the connector in place,

3. A detachable blind-stay connector eomi prising an upper tubular portion consisting of a plurality of parts, spurs pro ecting in weirdly from said parts, means for eminent- :ng Sitill parts and holdmg them in position about the stay, spring members projecting from said parts, and parallel to each other when said tubular portion is assembled.

4. A detachable l lii'1dstay connector comprising an upper tubular portion consisting of two similar parts hinged together at two of their n'lecting edges, a ferrule adapted to slip over said. tubular portion and unite the parts means for holding said ferrule in position, parallel spring members projecting l r0111 said tubular portion, adapted to clasp the blind, or portion thereof, all substantially as set forth in the above specifications.

JAMES S. DEAN.

\Vitnesses:

E. L. DEAN. L. H. DEAN. 

